


Twin Drabbles- Insomnia

by tr_ash101



Category: Gorillaz
Genre: Angst, Drinking, Drinking & Talking, Father-Daughter Relationship, Fluff, Gen, Guilt, Insomnia, Nostalgia, Phase Four (Gorillaz), Phase One (Gorillaz)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-19
Updated: 2017-11-19
Packaged: 2019-01-30 05:36:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,608
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12647148
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tr_ash101/pseuds/tr_ash101
Summary: This is a twin Drabble, one part in phase 1, and the related one in phase 4. Murdoc and Noodle meet each other during a bout of insomnia.





	Twin Drabbles- Insomnia

**Phase One**

 Noodle stared up at her bedroom ceiling in blatant frustration, trying to coax herself into being exhausted like Russel always was when he was heading to bed. She tried counting sheep like Stuart suggested, but gave up once she reached seventy-two. She just couldn't get to sleep. Noodle sat up in her bed, more than just a tad disoriented, and managed to make out the slightly fuzzy looking time on her clock, reading 3:02 AM. She stretched a little, and hopped out of bed. She thought it would be useful to come up with a new riff, or do anything that would be worthwhile, but it wouldn't be wise to even come close to waking up Murdoc. 

 Noodle paced around her room a little, twiddling her thumbs, and fingering chords on an imaginary guitar. Just then, she noticed how dry her throat was. Noodle tip-toed to her bedroom door, and managed to open it without any creaks. She made a beeline for the kitchen, peeking around corners like one of the ninjas in the old karate movies 2D would watch. Before Noodle made it into the kitchen, she felt that she walked into something, or somebody, and looked up to see Murdoc, who had just cracked open a beer. Noodle was at least relieved that it wasn't a zombie.  

 "What're ya doin' up Love?" Murdoc cocked an eyebrow, taking a sip of his Guinness. He looked just as frustrated, and tired, as she was. "Can't sleep?" 

 "Hai." Noodle murmured, careful not to wake her other band mates. Murdoc sat down in the nearby chair, motioning Noodle to sit in the one close by. Noodle climbed into the chair, rubbing her eyes. 

 "I haven't slept a whole lot since I was ten or somethin'. Anythin' keepin' ya up?" Murdoc placed his beer on the table, and glanced at the oven clock. Noodle shrugged. 

 "Just not tired, Murdoc-san." Noodle answered, utilizing her limited English vocabulary. 

 "Ah, I see. Are ya stressed?" Murdoc asked. "I can't sleep when a song I'm writing ain't workin' out. Or when Russ says he's gonna throw away my booze. How about you, Love?" 

 "When," Noodle paused, not quite sure what's keeping her up this long. "we're playing concerts." 

 "Do ya know why?" Murdoc took another sip of beer. 

 "Cause it's scary in front of crowds." Noodle answered. She enjoyed concerts while she was playing them, but she was a nervous wreck beforehand, convinced that if she went on stage she'd either trip, play everything wrong, or break her guitar, even though she never did any of those things.

 "I get it. I played a gig before Gorillaz, and I ended up in a fight with the lead guitarist. I beat the livin' hell outta him, but it killed my bass." Murdoc snorted, recalling his bass snapping in half when he hit his former band mate. Noodle giggled at the thought. 

 "Why are you awake?" Noodle perked up in her chair. 

 "No reason. I don't like sleepin' too much, unless it's after a night out. I like it when I'm the only one awake. Besides you, of course." Murdoc grinned and affectionately ruffled her hair. "Don't tell Russ, he won't let me hear the end of it." Noodle smiled and zipped her lips.

 "TV?" Murdoc proposed, standing up. Noodle nodded, and followed at his heels to the living room. He sat down on the couch, with his arm resting on the back. Noodle slopped down next to him. He reached for the remote, and turned on the TV. "For Satan's sake, nothin' besides porn is ever on TV past midnight." 

 "Murdoc-san, what's porn?" Noodle asked curiously. 

 "Never mind." Murdoc kept flipping, and stopped on some cheap looking spaghetti western. Noodle leaned against Murdoc's chest, watching the cheesy gun fight carefully. She immediately noticed the painted background, and a bit of the outside of the set showing, but it was still entertaining. Her eyes started to become heavy, and felt like there were ten pound weights trying to pull them down. Her thoughts slowed, and she soon fell right asleep. Murdoc looked down at Noodle, soon realizing that she was out like a light. He started to feel a little drowsy too, but was determined to stay up a little longer. As the credits of the movie rolled, Murdoc was snoring like a freight train. 

  **8:28 AM:**

Russel opened the door of his bedroom, feeling brighter and more cheerful today after a great night of sleep. His new mattress was working wonders for his back, it felt like he was straight out of a commercial. He walked carefully down the hallway, knowing most of the people in the studio would be asleep. He turned into the next corridor, and could hear the TV still playing softly from the living room.  _Murdoc must've stayed up all night again._ He thought to himself. He had no idea how Murdoc kept his eyes open during rehearsal. 

 He reached the living room, and saw Murdoc and Noodle fast asleep on the couch. Noodle was laying on Murdoc's chest, and his head was leaning on hers. Russel grinned, half because it was a genuinely sweet moment to witness, and half because Murdoc would be teased relentlessly for it. He went back into his room, and got his camera. He took a few pictures, and decided he would print them out later. This was just too priceless, he wasn't letting go of this anytime soon.

* * *

 

 

  **Phase 4**

Humanz ended up being a success, Gorillaz wasn't scheduled to play any live shows for a week, and she made extra sure to avoid any caffeine. So why couldn't Noodle fall asleep? Maybe there was a lot on her mind, new songs, interviews, and of course, just the constant bustle that came with being a member of the band. It'd been years since she had sleep trouble, but she at least recalled the tension of knowing she'd be exhausted tomorrow.

 Noodle thought about the Pokemon games she used to play when she was younger. 2d was always excited by all the colors and buttons, but it confused the living hell out of Murdoc. She remembered the first time she tried to teach him, which didn't go too well. He had no idea how to control the character, so he ended up just bumping into walls over and over again. Noodle snorted at the thought of Murdoc being that frustrated with Pokemon. 

 Noodle swallowed some of the saliva in the back of her throat, and she realized how thirsty she was. Noodle managed to lift herself out of her bed, and read the time on her phone. 3:02 AM. Now she knew she'd never get any sleep. Noodle slipped out of her room, and tip-toed through the hallway to the kitchen. At the table, she saw Murdoc, in his pajamas, which was already rare, with a can of beer in front of him, which wasn't so rare. He saw her out of the corner of his eye. "Noodle, Love, what're you doing up?" 

 She was suddenly hit with a strange sense of comfort and deja vu. "Thirsty. I can't really sleep." Noodle shrugged, looking straight at Murdoc's now lined face, and she realized that she hadn't ever truly realized how old he was getting, 51 seemed just about ancient.

 "Gotcha. Wanna sit with me?" He gestured to the wooden chair next to him. 

 "Sure." When she sat down, she noticed that he was flipping through old pictures, some from their first album, and a few from when they were working on Demon Days. The one he was paused on was a picture of them together, her on his shoulders laughing, and him cracking a rare smile. He chuckled for a moment. 

 "You were so small, always wearing that little radio helmet." Murdoc ran a thumb over the corner of the photograph. "Ya know, ya hardly ever took it off." 

 "You kept these, Murdoc?" Noodle was a little taken aback, she never thought that he could have held on to all of them, especially after Plastic Beach. But if anyone would go out of their way to keep them, it was Murdoc. 

 "Course I did. I love these pictures." Murdoc grinned a little. "What was the name of that damn game you were always playin'? With the dog-lookin' things?" 

 "Pokemon, remember? You thought Pikachu was a rat." Noodle rubbed her eyes, which must have had defined dark circles under them by now. "The epitome of the Dad joke." 

 "In my defense, the yellow thing looks like an overgrown rat that leaned to shoot lightning out of it's ass. All those video games are beyond me." Murdoc laughed and shook his head. "I don't care how old ya get, I'll always think of you as Little Noodle." 

 "Even at 26? What if I get a random growth spurt?" Noodle joked back. 

 "Nope, still Little Noodle. Besides, didn't we have a bet going about the whole height thing?" Murdoc flipped to another photo. 

 "Yeah, you said you wouldn't teach me how to play without the pick the way you did until I could reach your arms without jumping. I didn't end up growing much taller after." Murdoc stared at one of the older pictures, him teaching Noodle how to play Pool.

 "I kinda regret teachin' ya how to play pool and poker. Ya got so good at it, and you started being able to beat me." Murdoc chuckled.

 "I remember taking that picture!" Noodle leaned forward with interest. "You were always the funnest person to gamble with. Didn't we use cookies or something?" 

 "Oreo's, I'll bet, if Russ didn't get 'em before we did." Murdoc reminisced.

 "Never settled for less, huh? We had a lot of fun back in Kong." 

 "I guess life was pretty good back then, besides all the zombies hangin' about. Gorillaz was doin' well, Russ was on my case a little less, and you were still callin' yourself the Asian Axe Princess. Badass name if I ever heard one." Murdoc said. 

 "Maybe we should bring the name out of retirement." Noodle suggested. 

 "The fans would go bonkers over it ya know. It's hard to keep 'em at bay as is." 

 Noodle laughed, and sat back in her chair, more awake than ever. Murdoc kept flipping through the pictures, her 15th birthday, the filming of DARE, and her in 19-2000. He was smiling a little the whole time, but it faltered a little at some points, eventually just going blank. "You okay, Murdoc?" 

 "Yeah, I'm fine." Murdoc assured her, and they both went quiet, not the awkward kind, but the serene kind they rarely got with 2D around.   

 "Murdoc, can I ask you something?" Noodle leaned her chin on her fist, and Murdoc paused in shuffling through the photos for a moment. 

 "Sure, Love." Murdoc laid the pictures down, paying rapt attention to Noodle. 

 "Did you ever have kids?" Noodle had always wondered, but right then seemed like a good time to ask, even if she felt it was a little abrupt. "I mean, I was thinking of 2d's kids and everything." 

 Murdoc made direct eye contact with her. "No. At least I hope not, I'm not really Dad material, if you know what I'm gettin' at. I already tried and failed." Murdoc leaned back and yawned. 

 "What do you mean, Murdoc?" Noodle was more intrigued now, did he adopt? Raise another child? Her brain was buzzing and trying to make connections, even though she was starting to get tired, and her thoughts were blurring. She quickly wondered if she crossed the line, but Murdoc didn't look angry at all, just a little morose. 

 "You. I thought of myself as your Dad for a long time, still do in a way. Sometimes I forgot that we weren't related..." Murdoc cut himself off, and seemed more than a little embarrassed. "Forget it, it's nothing." 

 "You did, Murdoc?" Noodle wasn't completely surprised that he thought that. While Russel acted like a Dad, Murdoc in a lot of ways was his counterpart, coming out when nobody was around. "I think the same of you sometimes, if I'm being honest." 

 Murdoc smiled. "Did ya now?" 

 "I suppose I did." Noodle smiled back. "And you didn't fail, for one." 

 Murdoc's contentedness shifted to confusion. Noodle continued. "What I mean is, I'm glad you're my Dad. I wouldn't want anyone else." 

 "You mean it? Really?" Murdoc wondered if his ears, or brain, was functioning correctly. 

 "Of course I do, Murdoc." Noodle answered genuinely, and to her surprise, Murdoc pulled her into a tight hug. She hugged him back.

 "I love you, Noodle," Murdoc whispered. When they pulled apart, he rubbed his right eye for a moment, and chuckled. "Sorry for gettin' all emotional, Love."

 "It's fine, Murdoc, really." Noodle relaxed in her chair, and to her surprise, started to feel tired. "TV?" 

 "Sure, Love." Murdoc stood up and sat down on the couch in the other room, and Noodle took the spot next to him. "I've got a deal for ya Noodle, if ya bring back the radio helmet, I'll find that cape thing I used to wear." 

 "Deal!" Noodle laughed, the idea of a middle aged bassist walking around a stage wearing a skeleton cape seemed more comical than anything else. "If the helmet still fits." 

 Murdoc turned on the TV, and a western started playing. Noodle was familiar with this one, and most of the cheap looking ones in fact, as Murdoc would watch them whenever they weren't working back in Kong. "Is this the one with the chase bit at the end." 

 "This? Yeah, I think so." Murdoc put his arms around Noodle's shoulder, he was already absorbed the movie. Noodle glanced at the time at the clock, it seemed like the time had flashed by in a moment. 

 Noodle's view of the TV started to blur, and her eyelids seemed to be dragged down with it. She leaned her head on Murdoc's shoulder, and the room went back. Murdoc yawned and rubbed his eyes, determined to make it to the end of the movie. As the name of the lead paraded across the screen, Murdoc had already dozed off. 

**8:28 AM**

Russel trudged out of his bedroom, cradling his aching arm. He must have slept on it wrong, he hadn't had joint pain in years. He checked the time on his phone, and cleared away some of the spam on the group message, 2D had recently discovered bitmojis, and was obsessed with sending the little cartoons. When he turned the corner, he could vaguely hear the TV on. It wouldn't have surprised him if one of his bandmates had stayed up again. 

 When he made a move to turn it off, he saw Murdoc and Noodle asleep on the couch. Noodle was leaning against a snoring Murdoc, who wasn't scowling at Russel for once. Russel bit back a laugh, and pulled out his phone, taking a few pictures of them together. He pondered for a moment, blackmail, or just low-level teasing. He finally decided that he could easily do both, so he saved the photos to his  _Murdoc Blackmail_ album. Russel then got a strange sense of deja vu, but he disregarded it quickly. This was just too priceless. 

 

* * *

 

**A/N: Hey guys, I hoped you liked the twin drabbles. If you liked it, or didn't, maybe leave me a comment and tell me how i can improve. If you have a prompt, I'd be glad to give it a go. :) And thank you for taking the time to read what I wrote.**


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